International Collaboration in Chemistry between US Investigators and their Counterparts Abroad

Partnering Foreign Agencies The Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; German Research Foundation) of GermanyThe Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF; Austrian Science Fund) of Austria The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the United Kingdom (UK)The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC)The Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR; National Research Agency) of FranceJapan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS)Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR)The Netherlands Organization for Basic Research (NWO)The Fonds National de la Recherché (FNR; National Research Fund) of LuxembourgSpain Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (MICINN; Ministry of Science and Innovation) Program DescriptionThe National Science Foundation (NSF) seeks to enhance opportunities for collaborative activities between U.S. and foreign investigators. To realize this goal, the Division of Chemistry at NSF has partnered with the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG; German Research Foundation), the Fonds zur Förderung der wissenschaftlichen Forschung (FWF; Austrian Science Fund) of Austria, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the United Kingdom, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR; National Research Agency) of France, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (RFBR), the Netherlands Organization for Basic Research (NWO), the Fonds National de la Recherche (FNR; National Research Fund) of Luxembourg and Spain Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (MICINN; Ministry of Science and Innovation). NSF Chemistry will accept collaborative research proposals in chemistry, written in English, which establish bilateral collaborations between US investigators and investigators from the countries listed above. It is envisioned that the program will be expanded to include additional partnering foreign agencies in the coming years.The program seeks new and highly innovative 3-year collaborative projects that break new ground, make use of unique resources and capabilities in participating foreign countries and demonstrate a high level of synergy between the collaborating investigators. Formation of new collaborations is strongly encouraged. Investigators who have been collaborators must demonstrate that the proposed project represents a new research direction for the collaborative team. The program will not accept proposals for projects that are currently funded by other funding sources. The program will also not accept proposals for projects that largely overlap or are closely related to research projects that are currently carried out in the collaborators’ laboratories. The proposed 3-year projects must be in areas that are supported by the NSF Division of Chemistry's newly announced programs in Chemical Synthesis; Chemical Catalysis; Theory, Models and Computational Methods; Chemical Measurement and Imaging; Chemical Structure, Dynamics and Mechanisms; Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry; Environmental Chemical Sciences; or Chemistry of Life Process. A detailed description of these programs can be found at: http://www.nsf.gov/div/index.jsp?div=CHEThe proposed projects must also be in areas that are supported by the participating programs in the partnering agencies. The International Collaboration in Chemistry (ICC) program aims to realize the NSF strategic goal of developing a diverse, globally-engaged, US science and engineering workforce. The program therefore requires that US applicants will allocate significant financial resources in their proposed proposal budget to ensure meaningful participation of students, postdoctoral research associates and junior investigators, including those from underrepresented groups, in the proposed international research collaborations through extended research visits to the collaborator's laboratory abroad. The program also encourages the development and use of cyber infrastructure to increase the level of synergy of the proposed projects.